Lionhearts by profession, bravehearts for life

His work begins at 5.30 am. Donning his uniform, he sets off into the jungle, looking for pugmarks. Once he finds them, he follows the marks right to the point where he meets his boss - the lion. This is just another day in the life of a tracker employed by the forest department to follow Asiatic lions in Gir.

Many of the trackers are illiterate while others have barely passed high school. However, they are the all-knowing teachers when it comes to helping scholars from around the world study lion behaviour. "On an average, a tracker with 25 years of experience will have assisted 15 PhD students, both Indians and foreign. We have trackers who even help wildlife channels make documentaries," says a forest officer.